Times Change
by twipotterdirectioner13
Summary: This follows Lily Luna Potter and her experience at Hogwarts. (I suck at summaries)


The day that I was due to leave for Hogwarts to start my first year, my nerves and excitement were all bundled into the pit of my stomach. I had been awaiting this day anxiously since the beginning of the summer, and in the weeks leading up to my departure from home, I couldn't sleep most nights because I was so excited. When my family and I arrived at King's Cross that day I was allowed to go through the wall that lead into Platform 9 and 3/4 first. My parents both offered to go with me, but after a few years of watching both of my older brothers do so, I decided that I could go by myself without trouble. After I made it through, James, Albus, and my parents followed and we met up with my Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, and cousins Rose and Hugo. Not only was it my first year, but Hugo's, as well.

"Well, someone is rather excited to be starting school", Aunt Hermione commented, most likely hinting at my huge smile.

"Definitely! It's all I've wanted to do since James started school his first year", I confirmed, bouncing around slightly.

"She also wouldn't shut up about it all summer", James added, rolling his eyes.

"James, let your sister have her fun", Mum chided, smiling down at me and I returned it with a smile of my own. Soon enough, the train whistle blew and it was time for us to leave. At the sound of it and the sight of older kids boarding the train, my heart rate sped up quite a lot.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?" Mum asked, bending down to my level so that we could have better eye contact.

"More than ready", I assured, causing her to smile and wrap me into a prolonged hug. I didn't mind, though. After all, I would miss her so much. Just as I was about to board the train with my brothers, I ran over to Dad and gave him a big hug.

"I'll miss you, Daddy", I whispered.

"I'll miss you too, flower. Be good, alright?"

"Always", I promised, hugging him one last time before running off to watch up with my brothers and cousins.

"Have fun, Princess. And write your mother and I as often as you'd like!" he yelled after me.

"Every day, if I can!" I called back, following James and Albus into a compartment with Rose and Hugo. I took a seat next to Hugo before looking out the window to see my parents one last time, waving goodbye to them as the train slowly began to leave the station.

The entire train ride, I spoke to Hugo about which house we could possibly be in.

"I hope I'll be in Gryffindor", he expressed, the slightest hint of worry in his voice, "If not, Dad will probably disown me", his eyes widened at the thought, but I just laughed.

"Don't worry, Hugo. I'm sure your Dad won't disown you", I assured, causing him to smirk.

"Thanks, Lil. Do you think you'll be in Gryffindor?" he wondered.

"I'm not really sure. I mean, as you know, both our families have been in Gryffindor for generations. But at the end of the day, whether I will be or not isn't up to me", Hugo nodded, conforming his agreement.

Once we finally arrived, I stared up at the huge castle that would be my home for the next seven years; Hogwarts. When called, Hugo and I followed the other first years and climbed into a boat with two others. After being told to wait by Professor Longbottom, we waited only a few moments before we were allowed into the Great Hall to be sorted.

"Potter, Lily!" was finalled called after what seemed like nerve-racking hours rather than minutes. I made my way up to the wooden stool, feeling the dozens of eyes staring at me. Once the sorting hat was placed on my head, I jumped when it began to speak.

"Ah, another Potter! Well, I would have thought that my decision would be easy, but it seems as though I've been rather mistaken", it began, causing my heart rate to heighten from the worry of disappointing my family. I waited for the hat to continue, "As it is, I must say that you are very unlike your family. Strong-willed and whole-hearted, yes, but you also have quite the knack for making and keeping good friends, as well as being a good friend yourself. Any obstacles you face are relatively easy to overcome for you, while other may take time. You have many great qualities, though pride in yourself and who you are may hurt you sometimes. Very difficult to sort, indeed. I see many great things from you, young Potter. Now, where to put you... I know..." there was what seemed to be a rather long silence as I waited to hear my fate.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hate finally announced. My heart seemed to stop. I did my best to block everything out as I made my way over to my respective table, especially the overwhelming clapping coming from my new housemates. Though, my attempts to block everything out didn't last long.

"We've finally got a Potter!" one girl announced quietly to her friends.

"Can you believe she's not in Gryffindor?" questioned another. This continued throughout the rest of the sorting, and all through dinner.

"Hi! I'm Lana", a small, blonde-haired third year girl announced from next to me.

"Hi, Lana. I'm Lily", I introduced myself, mentally questioning why this girl was suddenly talking to me.

"It's nice to meet you, Lily. So are you surprised to be in Slytherin?" she wondered, staring almost intently at me with her chin resting on the palm of her hand.

"Um... well, it is a bit shocking seeing as which both sides of my family have been in Gryffindor for generations, but I guess Slytherin is where I belong if the hat chose to sort me that way"

"That's true. Well, I hope you enjoy Hogwarts. It's a great place", she assured before turning back toward one of her friends.

After dinner, I followed the other first years as we were led to the Slytherin common room by the prefects. The password was 'Salazar', and so I stored that in the back of my mind. As soon as I walked in, I was immediately dumb-founded by the large area. There was a big fireplace with the fire already going and plenty of chairs and couches to lounge on. For practically being in the basement, the Slytherin common room was wonderful.

"This way to the girls' dorms", the female prefect directed, so I followed her and the others up the stone staircase. I set to looking for my dorm room and when I came across it, the room was even better than I had imagined. Although I would be sharing a room with three other girls, there was still a lot of extra space and large enough beds to where I wouldn't roll off of one in the middle of the night. Instead of picking my bed before everyone else, I waited for my rommates to come in so that they could pick first. I waited for only a minute or so before the other girls came in.

"You must be Lily Potter", a light brown haired girl commented, a huge smile plastered on her face as she walked towards me.

"That's me", I confirmed, putting my hand out for her to shake and she took it.

"Lovely to meet you! My name is Freya Montague"

"Lovely to meet you too, Freya"

"So, how do you like being a Slytherin so far? Is it what you expected?"

"Well, it doesn't seem to be that different from other houses. Then again, it's only the first night"

"That's true, but I think you'll learn to love it. That's what my older sister told me"

"Who's your older sister?"

"Holly Montague. She's a fourth year now"

"Oh. My brothers are both Gryffindors"

"Well, that's certainly an interesting family dynamic", she giggled. I laughed with her, knowing just how right she was.

Seconds later, my two other roommates walked in and introduced themselves as Annabelle Martin and Cassandra Dean. They turned out to be just as nice as Freya.

"Okay, so I think we should figure out sleeping arrangements", Freya began, "I personally am afraid of heights, so I need a bottom bunk"

"I call top bunk!" Cassandra announced, climbing up to the top bunk of one of the bunk beds.

"In that case, I call bottom bunk", Annabelle stated, retreating to the bunk below Cassandra.

"I guess that leaves you the top bunk, Lily", Freya confirmed. I shrugged.

"Fine with me", I assured before moving to unpack my things. For the rest of the night, the four of us got to know each other as we put our things away, realizing that we each had one thing in common; we had at least one older sibling. The only difference was that my siblings were in Gryffindor, while the others had siblings in Slytherin.

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start my first day at Hogwarts. I was the first one up, so I got dressed quietly and got my school books together for the day. While I was doing this, Freya woke up with a small yawn.

"Morning, Lily!" she greeted.

"Morning, Freya. Did you sleep okay?" I wondered.

"I did, thank you. Did you?"

"Yes, I did. I think staying up a little later than we were supposed to helped", she giggled at this and jumped out of bed. Instead of waiting for the other girls to get up, Freya and I headed down to breakfast together.

"I'll never get over just how huge the Great Hall is! In fact, how huge the whole castle is", Freya commented as we walked in. However, as she said this, I wasn't looking around me like she was. Instead, I looked over toward my family and saw that James was glaring at me. I looked away quickly, unsure of what I had done wrong.

"Who were you looking at?" Freya asked as we sat down.

"My family. I think my brother is mad at me for something, but I don't know what I did", I explained.

"Well, maybe he's just upset that you're in Slytherin and not Gryffindor", realization dawned on me as she said this.

"You know, you may be right. My brother _hates_ Slytherin. That must be the reason, not anything that I've done"

"Exactly! I wouldn't worry about it too much. Besides, if anything, he should be mad at the sorting hat and not you"

"Good point. Maybe I'll go talk to him, see how he and the family have been", I got up and headed toward the Gryffindor table, getting lots of stares in return. When I got there, I stood behind James.

"Hello, everyone", I greeted. None of them even acknowledged my presence.

"Um... it's me, Lily", I tried again. Still, no one looked at me.

"Guys?"

"Why don't you go back to your table, snake?" James snapped. It was then that Albus looked over at me, sorrow in his eyes as if he had lost someone. Maybe he thought he had lost a sister to Slytherin?

"James, I just wanted to see how you all were doing. I haven't seen any of you since last night", I explained.

"Look, Lily. Why don't you just slither back to your table and not worry about us? Slytherins don't care, anyway", I stared at him, wide-eyed. Instead of arguing further, I began to walk away, ready to cry. When I got back to the table, Annabelle and Cassandra had joined Freya. I sat down, holding back tears.

"What happened, Lily?" Freya questioned.

"James... he called me a snake and told me to go back to my table"

"Oh, no... I'm sorry, Lily. I shouldn't have let you go over there", Freya apologized.

"No, don't blame yourself. I wasn't expecting him to say something like that"

"Don't worry, Lily. You have us", Cassandra added, Annabelle and Freya smiling and nodding their heads in agreement.


End file.
